June 20, 2008

Sales Types Part II

The Doug way to sell is very pragmatic, very consultative. This guy had a sales background, but was more strategic in his thinking than most sales people. He could see the forrest for the trees AND the trees for the forrest. He knew what questions to ask and how to ask them. As opposed to asking someone if they want to buy something, he would drive conversation that reaches that conclusion. The Doug way is a sales guy that can sell, but is more strategic than most. He knows how to shape interest alignment among constituents, which many can't move the ball forward on.

Interlude: More often than not, people don’t tend to have an appreciation for business development people. Part of it has to do with the fact that business development people work on things that aren’t as measured given the strategic nature. One business development guy might spend 4 months discerning a new vertical market place; while another creates an ecosystem of partnerships (technology, distribution, marketing, etc) to further enable the company; while another is just the first sales guy that is dubbed biz dev; while another is just a no-op that gets nothing done and always has a reason why (this is the most common biz dev guy you see). It’s a broad category that companies view differently. The other reason people don’t tend to have an appreciation for business development people, is that there aren’t that many good ones out there. So often business development is where a sales guy lands that can’t sell, or a marketing guy lands that can’t market, or an MBA grad lands for MBA sake, or a founder who couldn’t scale in his initial role.

The Raj way was that sort of mid level guy that has been carrying a bag in the field for a while, but fancies himself as more senior and strategic than others. He's not so senior such that he won't swing to take credit for every deal (note: the senior guys make their guys successful and that success reflects on them). He is relatively sharp though, and get get deals done at the C level. He's usually overly verbose, even after the order is in hand. (note: once you have the order, shut the F up and get out). Raj often thinks that being verbose serves him well because he'd rather provide his customers more information than less. Well, he misses the point. It's not about more or less, it's about what matters.

The Jack way is to do as little as possible but to cover his ass the whole way. You remember that guy that you had to work on a group project with in school? The guy that didn't do anything the whole time, but got the same grade you got? That's Jack. If the 4-Hour Work Week were out back then, he had read it. I'm sure he has by now. He somehow manages to work odd hours. He arrives before anyone else, but he makes it look like it's way before anyone else. He never knows the technical end of what he's selling. He's got a party line pitch he keeps, which is how he survives. He makes his problems your problems. Somehow, this guy makes his numbers just fine. He's a testament to the cliff notes version of a sales guy.

Coming Soon:

The Kevin way (the guy always asking "what problem are you trying to solve" but has no answers)